Tactile communication system



Original Filed Deo. 6, 1957 United States Patent ice 3,246,323 TACTILECGMll/IUNCATION SYSTEM Joseph Hirsch, 1117 Fiske St., Pacific Palisades,Calif. Original application Dec. 6, 1957, Ser. No. 701,037, now PatentNo. 3,157,553, dated Nov. 17, 1964. Divided and this application .lune1, 1964-, Ser. No. 379,062 3 Claims. (Cl. 343-7) This is a division ofapplication Serial No. 701,087 filed December 6, 1957 (now Patent No.3,157,853), which is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.465,315, filed October 28, 1954 (now abandoned).

This invention relates to tactile communication systems and moreparticularly to means for` and a method 0f operating an aircraftutilizing an improved tactile communication system adapted tocommunicate complex operational information over both short and longdistances. By short distances, reference is had to communication withinthe craft itself whereas long distances include communication betweenthe craft and some other separate object such as the ground, anothercraft, or a remote object.

Although thedistinct advantages of communicating information directly tothe brainthrough tactile reception have been known and although priorattempts have been made to utilize the principles thereof incommunicating information to the pilot and other crewmen of aircraft,

the equipment heretofore provided for communicating tactually has beensubject to so many shortcomings and so restricted in its range ofcapabilities as to offer no advantage over other available communicationsystems. It is known, lfor example, that vibratory stimuli tactuallyreceived is communicated to the brain automatically and without efforton the part of the subject. Unlike visually perceived information, thereis no need for rst adjusting7 vthe optic muscles to the nicety requiredin adjusting peripheral pressure on the lens system of the eye to focuson a specic target. Not only is an irreducible time period required forsuch adjustment of the eye, but the muscular and nervous energy consumedin the process is finite and leads to fatigue if continued over a periodof time. Tactually perceived information, on the other hand, in-

' volves inconsequential effort on the part of the person,

the information so perceived being impressed upon the brainautomatically and significantly, with little or no interference with thesimultaneous registry of other information received both visually andaurally. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the communication ofinformation tactually provides a complete channel to the brainindependent of the ears and the eyes. vast potentialities of thislit-tle used channel have gone unnoticed and are only now becomingevident.

Reference will now be had to specific applications for the tactilecommunication system of this invention. lt is known that pilots ofaircraft realize that much reliance in the flying of aircraft has beenplaced on the communication of certain characteristics of Hightconditions to the pilots brain via the seat of his pants. This isbecause changes in flight conditions or in the attitude of the plane areinstantly and instinctively sensed by the pilot by relative movement:between his body and the plane seat. For example, changes in planeacceleration, the sudden shifting of the plane laterally, pitch, rolland other similar changes are sensed instinctively and automaticallywithout need for visually checking instruments, viewing the horizon orother reference sources.

According to one mode of utilizing the communication system provided bythis invention, tactually perceived significant intelligence can becommunicated directly to the pilot or other crew member aboard the planeor, in the alternative, it can be communicated tactually to a The o3,246,323 Patented Apr. l2, 1966 remote human receiver stationed eitheron the ground or in another craft, such human receiver being providedwith other means for communicating the essential portions only of theintelligence back to the originating craft or to other persons havingneed therefor. For example, the tactile communicating system may becoupled to numerous sources of information aboard the craft for thepurpose of keeping the remote human operator fully apprised ofmiscellaneous operating conditions abroad the plane with the details ofwhich it is unnecessary for the plane crew to be concerned.

The communication system of this invention will therefore be understoodto permit the remote operato-r to concentrate on a certain phase of theoperation to the exclusion of all other operating conditions and to theend that he may communicate to a particular member of the crew suchinformation as is essential to the crew member. Such a communicationsystem makes it possible for a remote operator, such as a groundcrewman, to be fully informed Aof all flight conditions essential forthe blind landing of the craft and by voice or other communicationdirected back :to the pilot to inform the pilot on information necessaryfor the blind landing of the plane.

It will also be understood that according to another mode of operationthe communication system provided by the present invention can beconnected directly to the pilot or one or more crewmen in a mannerchanneling desired operational information directly to the brain throughtactile perception leaving the crewman free to receive visual or auralinformation about other flight and operational conditions. ln thissimplified version of the system' it is unnecessary to provide radiotransmitters for communicating the information between the ship and aremote point as well as a return communication system to a crewmanaboard the ship.

According to still another arrangement and application of thecommunicating system of this invention, the activating signal for thecommunicating system may be such as advises the human receiver bytactile preception of approaching danger such as the closing distancebetween the craft and another craft or between the craft and a feature-of the terrain.

It will therefore be appreciated that the principles of this inventionare very exible and may be applied in a variety of ways to apprise acrewman or of someone acting in concert with the crewman of desiredinformation automatically and without effort on his part by the the useof vibratory stimuli and tactile perception.

Also, on take-off a pilot may have need for focusing alternately on anearby object, such as an instrument panel, and a distant object such asthe runway or horizon. lf, under these conditions, he is called upon totake some action based on information from such near and distantsightings, his reaction time will be increased by the time required forthe accommodation and convergence as he changes focus to View the nearand distant objects. This critical time loss can be avoided if theessential information for the action can be supplied tactually to thepilot without need for first making visual sightings of any kind therebyleaving the eyes free for other purposes.

Also, emergency situations arise and it is important that the pilot bemade instantly aware of such situations without the delay unavoidabilityentailed -in such operations as the focusing of the eyes. For example,the attitude of the airplane might be approaching stall conditions andsuch information should instantly be provided the pilot.

According to still another mode of utilizing the tactile communicationsystem of this invention, the activating signals can be picked up byradar equipment or other sensing instrumentation effective in measuringthe distance between -the aircraft and other aircraft in the vicinity oran obstruction in the path of iiight, the received signal being utilizedto apprise the receiving crewman by tactile perception of the changingdistance and the direction of change between the aircraft and the otherobject.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide meansfor instantaneously sensing and communieating to an operators brain byvibratory stimuli and tactile perception information useful in theoperation of aircraft and the like.

Another object of the invention is the provision of instrumentation foraircraft functioning automatically to convey desired operationinformation to members of the crew by tactile communication means.

Another object of the invention is the provision of instrumentation foraircraft by which the angles of rotational movements and of certainother operational factors can be measured and automatically channelledto a human occupant of the craft via readily understood tactuallyperceptible stimuli.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a system and meansfor communicating changing operational fiight conditions of an aircraftdirectly to the brain of a receiving operator through tactileperception.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a communicationsystem for detecting the changing distance and direction of changebetween the Vehicle under way and an object in its course together withmeans for communicating the information lfactually to a crcwman aboardthe vehicle.

These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading thefollowing speciiication and claims and upon considering in connectiontherewith the attached drawings to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawings in which preferred embodiments of theinvention are illustrated:

This single figure is a schematic view of stiil another embodimentuseful in communicating information of the changing distance between amoving 4craft and some other object.

Although the circuit is to be described for communicating informationbetween a craft in flight and a ground operator, it will be understoodthat the intelligence communicated may be conned to the craft itself.Likewise, the remote receiver may be located on another craft in flight.By means of this greatly simplified system, certain essentialinformation needed by the pilot or by any other crew member may becommunicated directly to the brain without need for effort or action onthe part of the receiver and without interference with the use of hiseyes or ears for the perception of information aurally or visually.Although the system will be disclosed in connection with certaincondition sensing devices, it will be apparent that the sensing devicesmay be designed to provide changing operational information about anycondition whatsoever and irrespective of whether the conditions arerelated or unrelated. And, of course, the number of sensing deviceswhich can be utilized in the manner described is not limited to thenumber here shown but may be increased or decreased as found desirablewithin the limits of the available frequencies which can be used toactivate the vibratory Stimulators in a manner interpretabie by tactileperception.

There remains to 'oe described an embodiment of the invention useful insensing the changing distance between a craft in flight and some othercraft or fixed object lying in or close to the iiight course. Thesuitable system operable for this purpose and appropriately termed acollision anticipator is illustrated in the figure wherein it will beseen to comprise a radar information receiver 165 having a suitablesearching antenna system 106 connected therewith. It will be understoodthat the antenna system may include one or several searching devices asrequired to search the area to either side and forwardly of the planeincluding both the direction of other objects with respect to the flightcourse and the distance thereof from the plane. The signals relating tothe direction of the object, whether such object be another aircraft ora stationary object such as a mountain, is channeled into directionselector analyzer 107, whereas the distance signal is channeled throughlead 10S into the distance selector analyzer 109.

It will be understood that analyzers 197 and 109 include suchconnections as may be necessary to operate suitable known computercomponents for analyzing the signals and determining whether a-collision is likely if the craft carrying the equipment continues onits course. If analyzer 137 indicates that the craft is fiying on acollision course or close thereto and distance analyzer 109 indicatesthat the distance vector is `decreasing at a rate such that a collisionis likely, then the signal outputs from 168 and 139 passing to thetriple triode gate 110 through channels 111 and 112, respectively, arejointly effective to open this gate to pass a Variable signal emanatingfrom variable oscillator 114.

It will be understood that radar receiver 105 includes means fortransmitting a signal over channel 113 to operate any suitableservo-mechanism to vary the frequency output of oscillator 114 withinthe tactually perceptible range of frequencies mentioned above.Preferably, the servo-mechanism and oscillator 114 are so arranged as toincrease the frequency of the output signal in accordance with theproximity of the impending collision, whereby a higher frequencyindicates an emergency situation. If the outputs of the direction anddistance analyzers taken together indicate a collision course, theircombined outputs function to hold gate 110 open so that the frequencyoutput of oscillator 114 flows through channel 115, through gate 110 andinto an amplifier 116 if one is necessary to provide a signal ofsuliicient strength to operate an oscillatory receiver 117. The latteris of any suitable construction and may be strapped to some part of thepilots body such as to his forearm so that the vibrations imparted tothe skin will convey a readily understood imperative Warning to thepilot concerning the imminent danger.

While the particular tactile communication systems and methods ofoperating an aircraft using tactually perceived intelligence are fullycapable of attaining the objects and providing the advantageshereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that they are merelyillustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention andthat no limitations are intended to the details of construction ordesign herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a collision anticipator for providing a tactile indication to anoperator of a vehicle of an impending collision with a detected object,including,

first means at the vehicle for detecting the proximate presence of thedetected object relative to the vehicle and for providing a signalrelated to the distance therebetween,

second means at the vehicle and coupled to said detecting means forgenerating a variable frequency signal having an instantaneous frequencycorresponding to the instantaneous distance between the detected objectand the vehicle,

third means at the vehicle and responsive to the signals from the rstand second means for passing Athe variable frequency signal from thesecond means in accordance with particular characteristics of the signalfrom the first means, and

a tactile vibrator at the vehicle, said vibrator being operativelycoupled to the third means and -to the operator and being responsive tosaid variable frequency signal from said generating means for providinga vibratory tactile sensation to the operator at a frequency related tothe distance between the detected object and the vehicle whereby therate of change of the frequency of the vibration provides 5 6 anindication of the rate of closure between the obprovides an indicationto the operator of the rate ject and the vehicle. at which the detectedobject is approaching the ve- 2. In a collision anticipatcr forproviding a tactile inhicle. dication to an operator of a vehicle of animpending col- 3. The collision anticipator set forth in claim 2wherelision With a detected object, including, 5 in gate means areresponsive to the direction selector, the a receiver for receivingsignals from the detected obdistance selector and the Variable frequencymeans to pass ject, the signals from the variable frequency means inaccorda direction sensor coupled to the receiver for indicatance withthe characteristics of the signals from the diing the direction at whichthe detected object is movrection selector and the distance selector andwherein the ing relative to Ithe vehicle, 10 tactile vibrator isresponsive to the signals passing through a distance selector coupled tothe receiver for indicatthe gate means from the variable frequencymeans.

ing the variations in distance of the detected object relative to .thereceiver, References Cited by the Examiner means operatively coupled tothe receiver for provid- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing a Variable frequencyin accordance with varia- 15 tions in the distance between the detectedobject ghn et al 343-1124 ayrnaker. andthe Vehldeand 3 112 48o 11/1963Lk 343 1124 a tactile Vibrator at the receiver, the tactile vibratoralos being operatively coupled to the direction selector, OTHERREFERENCES the distafe Seleftor and the-1ast mentioned means 20 Ballard,l'. W. et al.: Tactual Sensory Control System, for Provldmg a Vlbratorytactile Sensation to the 0p` Electrical Manufacturing, October 1954 (pp.118-121.)

erator at a frequency related to the distance between the detectedobject and the vehicle and in accord- CHESTER L JUSTUS, Prfmmy Exmm'nerance with collision indications provided by the direction selector andthe distance selector whereby 25 T' H' TUBBESING Amsmm Emmmer' the rateof change of the frequency of the vibration um l'

1. IN A COLLISION ANTICIPATOR FOR PROVIDING A TACTILE INDICATION TO ANOPERATOR OF A VEHICLE OF AN IMPENDING COLLISION WITH A DETECTED OBJECT,INCLUDING, FIRST MEANS AT THE VEHICLE FOR DETECTING THE PROXIMATEPRESENCE OF THE DETECTED OBJECT RELATIVE TO THE VEHICLE AND FORPROVIDING A SIGNAL RELATED TO THE DISTANCE THEREBETWEEN, SECOND MEANS ATTHE VEHICLE AND COUPLED TO SAID DETECTING MEANS FOR GENERATING AVARIABLE FREQUENCY SIGNAL HAVING AN INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCYCORRESPONDING TO THE INSTANTANEOUS DISTANCE BETWEEN THE DETECTED OBJECTAND THE VEHICLE, THIRD MEANS AT THE VEHICLE AND RESPONSIVE TO THESIGNALS FROM THE FIRST AND SECOND MEANS FOR PASSING THE VARIABLEFREQUENCY SIGNAL FROM THE SECOND MEANS IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARTICULARCHARACTERISTICS OF THE SIGNAL FROM THE FIRST MEANS, AND A TACTILEVIBRATOR AT THE VEHICLES, SAID VIBRATOR BEING OPERATIVELY COUPLED TO THETHIRD MEANS AND TO THE OPERATOR AND BEING RESPONSIVE TO SAID VARIABLEFREQUENCY SIGNAL FROM SAID GENERATING MEANS FOR PROVIDING A VIBRATORYTACTILE SENSATION TO THE OPERATOR AT A FREQUENCY RELATED TO THE DISTANCEBETWEEN THE DETECTED OBJECT AND THE VEHICLE WHEREBY THE RATE OF CHANGEOF THE FREQUENCY OF THE VIBRATION PROVIDES AN INDICATION OF THE RATE OFCLOSURE BETWEEN THE OBJECT AND THE VEHICLE.